Sand pump



F. W. COOK June 23, 1964 SAND PUMP Filed Sept. 13, 1960 JWS UnitedStates Patent O 3,138,215 SAND PUMP Fred W. Cook, Odessa, Tex. (R0. Box1672, Lubbock, Tex.) Filed Sept. 13, 1960, Ser. No. 55,736 10 Claims.(Cl. 175-308) This invention relates to well tools and more particularlyto those oil well tools commonly known as sand pumps.

This invention is an improvement over the application of Ray A. Yates,Serial No. 705,531, filed December 27, 1957, for Sand Pump; owned by acommon assignee, now Patent No. 3,003,562.

An object of this invention is to provide a tool for pumping small loosematerial from the bottom of a well.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a tool which is easyto repair.

Another object is to provide such a tool which is positive in action andhas positive means for loosening the parts should they become stuck.

A further object is to provide a tool which has dual utility; first, inbreaking up hard material, and pumping it within its body; and second,loosening and sucking up large amounts of loose material such as sand.

A further object is to provide a novel method for removing items whichhave been placed in the well such as iron bridging plugs, productionpackers, cement retainers, etc.

A further object is to provide a novel method of removing stuck tubularmaterial from within a well.

A further object is to provide a tool which may be run with commerciallyavailable equipment which does not require expensive additionalequipment to operate.

A further object is to wash around stuck material in a well.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a device that issturdy, compact, durable, simple, and reliable, yet inexpensive and easyto manufacture.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects, uses, andadvantages thereof will clearly appear from the following descriptionand from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are notnecessarily to the same scale, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a tool according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion thereof showingdetails.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the shoe that would be used to drill,being the same as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a sand shoe.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of a washover shoe with a stuckobject shown in phantom.

As may be seen in the drawing, a tool built according to this inventionhas tubular housing 10. The housing functions as a cylinder for thepump. The pump includes pistons 12 and valves 14. Each piston alsoincludes a valve seat.

Shoe 16 is attached to the bottom of extension 18 of the housing. Theextension 18 is welded to the bottom of tubular member 10. The extension18 includes short portion 20 which telescopes within the end of member10. This telescoped portion 20 acts as a stop for plunger 19. The shoehas a threaded pin which fits into a threaded box of extension 18. Atthe top of the shoe there is a lug 21 which has hinged thereto flappervalve 22.

The flapper valve is designed so that it can open rather fully withinthe tubular portion of extension 18. However, it is designed so that itcannot open a full 90 degrees but stops at least 5 degrees short ofvertical. When fluid ceases to flow into the body of the housing, thevalve closes positively and certainly.

Two types of bottom shoes are provided. One has a drill bit 24 on thebottom thereof. The drill bit is made of high quality metal such as 4130alloy steel heat treated to a Brinell hardness of 290. In addition, thetip itself is coated with carbide and sharpened to a knife edge. Withthe weight of the entire tool it is possible to drill through toughmaterials with this. Concrete and the like present no problem at all tothis tool. However, certain malleable alloys such as some of the alloysof aluminum and certain iron fittings are difficult to drill. However,with this tool, I have found that I am able to drill out iron bridgingplugs, iron production packers, metal cement retainers, and othermaterials. One of the most diflicult things, I have found, to break upand remove are rubber packers and other rubber material which havevulcanized in place. I have found with this tool that I have been ableto chop them up in sufficiently small pieces to suck them up into thebody of the tool and remove them from the well within the tool. Thedrill bit has large fluid passages 25 whereby the liquid and debris maybe sucked within the body of the tool. For purposes of a genericterminology all the various and sundry obstructions found in the wellwill be called slugs regardless of whether they are rubber, metal,cement, natural, or man-placed.

The shoe illustrated in FIG. 4 has an annular bottom 26. This makes thetool more eflicient in quickly sucking pulverulent material such assand, either natural or artificially introduced.

Pump top 28 is threaded into the top of housing 10 by threaded pin atthe bottom of the top. The top has a set screw (not shown) to insurethat the top does not come disconnected from the rest of the housing.Fishing neck 30 is at the extreme upper portion of the top. The bottomof the pin of the pump top is of lesser diameter than the inside of thetubular housing thus providing the plunger 19 with a stop.

Although there will be a certain clearance between the top 32 of theplunger 19 and the inside of the bore extending through the pump top,additional fluid passages 34 in the form of circular ports through thetop of housing 10 are provided.

The plunger is in the form of a solid rod which extends from cablesocket 36 at the top. The cable socket 36 is of standard form and has abox on the lower end so. that it may be attached to a pin at the top ofthe plunger. The cable socket performs the normal function of beingmeans for attaching a cable 38 to the plunger.

The valves 14 have a convex conic top 39 which is the valve proper.Otherwise, they are generally cylindrical in shape and are shrunk fitupon the plunger 19. In addition to this, they are also held by a dowel40 extending through them and the plunger. The lower portion of eachvalve has a radial. cut-out 42. This cut-out provides a fluid passageupon the down stroke of the plunger as will be explained later. Theuppermost valve 44 is actually a stop and not a valve, however, it isthe same shape and size as the rest and will be referred to as a valve.It is not shrunk fitted and doweled onto the plunger but is threadedthereto and wleded. Top valve 44 is attached more securely because itabsorbs all of the shock when the plunger is violently raised and hitsthe lower end of pump top 28. The plunger picks up the entire housingweight and this must all be absorbed in stop 44.

The pistons 12 are made of brass. I have found that this works well whenthe housing 10 is of steel and the valves 14 are of steel. They worksatisfactorily to be brass coated, however, it is more economical tomake them of solid brass than to'coat the steel. Each valve 14 has a topand bottom integral annular rings 46 which are in sliding engagementwith the housing 12. Square notch 3 48 is between the rings. The ringsare in fiuid sealing relationship with the inside of the housing It} andhave only sufiicient clearance for mechanical working. The fluid pumpedwill be heavily ladened with debris such as sand. The inside of thepistons 12 have suflicient clearance so that there is a fluid passagespace between the inside bore of the pistons 12 and the plunger.Likewise, the valves are sufiiciently small in diameter so that there isa fluid passage space between the outside of the valves and the housing10. The bottom of each piston 12 has a concave conic depression 50 whichis correlative to the convex conic top 39 of the valves. This concavesurface is the valve seat proper. I have found it desirable to makeannular serrations within the valve seat so that a grain of sand willnot prevent the seating of the valve in the valve seat. I.e., if bothsurfaces were smooth, a grain of sand on 39 would prevent the valve fromfully seating and permit a fluid flow therebetween. However, by makingthe valve seat serrated, a grain of sand has the possibility of fittinginto one of the serrations so that the fluid seal is made.

The only wearing surfaces are between the pistons and the housing wall16, and the valve surfaces on the pistons 12. Therefore, the main partsthat need to be replaced through wear is the piston. This may be done byremoving the various valves from the plunger and removing the pistonsand replacing new ones. Of course, the plunger may be removed from thetool by unscrewing the top 28 from the housing 10 and removing theentire plunger. Normally the bottom valve member will be welded to theplunger. Therefore, should any of the valve members break loose, theywill be retained upon the plunger. However, this is a light weld andcould be easily removed when the valves are removed for replacement.

Also in operation, should any of the pistons become stuck to the housingbecause of sand or other foreign materials, they may be dislodgedreadily and positively by jerking up on the cable or dropping the weightof the plunger on them. In this regard, the length of the plunger isvaried so that sufiicient weight is accumulated. This is particularlyimportant in smaller models because the tool has been manufacturedsuccessfully with as small as l and Vs inch outside diameter.

In operation, the tool is lowered into the well so that the housingrests upon the bottom. If it is necessary to drill out some slugs in thewell, the tool may be used as a drill by reciprocating the cable 38.After the material has been drilled up the plunger is lowered within thehousing. The flapper valve 22 will be closed and the pistons will riseagainst the bottoms of valves 14. There will be a fluid flow around theoutside of the valves 14, the inside of the pistons 12, and through theannular cutouts 42. The plunger volume will displace some fluid and itwill flow out ports 34. When the plunger reaches the bottom it is raisedby tension on the cable 38. The valves contact the valve seats 50raising the pistons. This closes the fluid passages. Actually for fluidto leak from above top valve 44 it would have to follow the tortuouspath around three pistons or through three valves.

I have found the tool to be quite useful for fishing for tubularmaterial, the top of which is plugged. It is plugged with a slug asdiscussed above or plugged by sand or shale. According to the novelmethod, the tool would be used to drill out the plugged tubular materialwithin the well. The tool would clean out a considerable extent of thebore of the plugged tubular material. After this was done, the stuckmaterial could be removed by the conventional practice of lowering acharge of explosive material within the tubular material and setting offthe charge and removing the piece thus freed. Often the detonation willcause sufficient cave-in so that the next section sought to be removedwill also be plugged. Therefore, the tool according to my invention canagain be used to remove the debris plugging the tubular material so thatanother explosive charge may be lowered within it.

It will further be understood that in operation that the sand and debriswill not only accumulate in the lower portion of the extension 18 butwill come up within a considerable portion of the housing 10. In thisregard, ordinarily the tool will be built with the housing approximately21 feet long Whereas the plunger itself will have a length of less thanabout 4 feet. Considerable debris may be in the bottom portion of thehousing 10 and still have room for a plunger stroke. I have found itquite successful to use three pistons and three valves and the stop 44.

FIG. 5 illustrates another shoe of the annular type. More exactly, thelong shoe 16 illustrated in this FIG. 5 is similar to a washover shoe.The problem is sometime encountered when a fish is covered by thedebris. Here the term fish is used to mean any object to be removed fromwithin the well. Techniques have been developed for removing theseobjects providing that a grapple may be attached to the fishing neck F.However, these fishing necks may be completely covered by debris such assand.

In use, the long shoe 16 is placed upon the end of the tool extension 18the same as the other shoes. It is lowered into the Well, there aresmall hard teeth on the bottom so that it may drill into the crust ofsand. With the pump operating as before, the debris is removed bypumping debris ladened fluid from around the fishing neck of the fish.The bottom of the pump is a container for debris. Then this tool isremoved and a grapple is lowered into the well to remove the object byconventional methods.

It will be noted that the long shoe illustrated in FIG. 5 has ratherthin walls so it can go quite close to the surrounding casing or thewell side walls, and still fit over as large a fish as possible. Also itwill be noted that it is rather elongated, i.e., that it is over twiceas long as it is in diameter. Otherwise stated, the diameter of the tubeis less than /2 the length.

I have found that with this tool with the shoe of FIG. 3 that I canbreak up and pump pieces that heretofore have required a milling shoe tobe lowered upon the end of a rotary drill stem. I consider this novelthat I can remove slugs, metal, or rubber, with this cable tool whichslugs heretofore required rotary milling tool. Indeed, one of the thingsthat I have been able to remove with this is the aluminum alloy known asKirksite.

It will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary andthat various modifications can be made in construction, materials, andarrangement within the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A well tool comprising: a tubular housing, a shoe on the bottom ofthe housing, a check valve on top of the shoe, a solid plunger in thehousing, a rope socket on top of the plunger, a stop on the housingabove the check valve, a second stop at the top of the housing, thestops being means for limiting the travel of the plunger, a plurality ofvalves with convex conic tops attached to the plunger, the valves havingradial cut-outs at their lower edge, an annular fluid passage areabetween the periphery of the valve to the inside of the housing, anannular piston surrounding the plunger above each valve, an annularfluid passage area between the piston and the plunger, the bottom ofeach piston having a concave conic valve seat correlative with the conictop of the valve, the valve seat having annular serrations therein, andthe outside periphery of the valve seat in sliding fluid sealingcontacts with the inside of the housing, the outside periphery having asquare circumferential groove therein.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the valves are made ofsteel and the pistons from brass.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the shoe has a chiseldrilling bit of hardened steel sharpened to a knife edge on the bottomthereof.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the shoe has an annularlower edge for sucking up pulverent material.

5. A well tool comprising: a tubular housing, a check valve at thebottom of the housing permitting fluid to enter but prohibiting itsleaving, a solid plunger in the housing, means on top of the plunger forattaching a cable thereto, means at the top of the housing and thebottom of the housing for limiting the travel of the plunger, aplurality of valves with convex conic tops attached to the plunger, thevalves having radial cutouts at their lower edge, an annular fluidpassage area between the periphery of the valves and the inside of thehousing, an annular piston surrounding the plunger above each valve, anannular passage area between the pistons and the plunger, the bottom ofeach piston having a concave conic valve seat correlative to the conictop of the valve, and the outside periphery of the valve seat in slidingfluid sealing contact with the inside of the housing.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 with the addition of annularserrations on the surface of the valve seat.

7. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein the valves are made ofsteel and the pistons from brass.

8. The invention as defined in claim 5 with the addition of a chiseldrill bit of hardened steel sharpened to a knife edge, the bit attachedto the bottom of the housing.

9. The invention as defined in claim 5 with the addition of an elongatedtube attached to the bottom of the housing the tube being adapted tosurround an object stuck in an oil well to clean debris from around theobjects.

10. The invention as defined in claim 9 wherein the diameter of the tubeis less than half the length of the tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS583,317 Wilson May 25, 1897 1,845,799 Kime et a1. Feb. 16, 19321,855,484 Miller Apr. 26, 1932 2,305,261 Kinley Dec. 15, 1942 2,649,917Simmons Aug. 25, 1953 2,672,934 Miner Mar. 23, 1954 2,716,541 Helm Aug.30, 1955 2,785,756 Reynolds Mar. 19, 1957 2,804,927 Hall Sept. 3, 19572,894,725 Baker July 14, 1959 2,904,114 Webb et al. Sept. 15, 19592,912,227 Baker Nov. 10, 1959 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE CERTIFICATE OFI- RECTIQN Patent No, 3, 138, 215 June 23, 1964 Fred W, Cook It ishereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patentshould read ascorrected below.

In the heading to the printed specification, lines 3 and 4, for Odessa,Tex (P., O., Box 1672, Lubbock, TexJ" read P, O Box 1672, Odessa, Tex

Signed and sealed this 8th day of December 1964,

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W; SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Aitcsting Gfiicer Commissioner ofPatents

1. A WELL TOOL COMPRISING: A TUBULAR HOUSING, A SHOE ON THE BOTTOM OFTHE HOUSING, A CHECK VALVE ON TOP OF THE SHOE, A SOLID PLUNGER IN THEHOUSING, A ROPE SOCKET ON TOP OF THE PLUNGER, A STOP ON THE HOUSINGABOVE THE CHECK VALVE, A SECOND STOP AT THE TOP OF THE HOUSING, THESTOPS BEING MEANS FOR LIMITING THE TRAVEL OF THE PLUNGER, A PLURALITY OFVALVES WITH CONVEX CONIC TOPS ATTACHED TO THE PLUNGER, THE VALVES HAVINGRADIAL CUT-OUTS AT THEIR LOWER EDGE, AN ANNULAR FLUID PASSAGE AREABETWEEN THE PERIPHERY OF THE VALVE TO THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSING, ANANNULAR PISTON SURROUNDING THE PLUNGER ABOVE EACH VALVE, AN ANNULARFLUID PASSAGE AREA BETWEEN THE PISTON AND THE PLUNGER, THE BOTTOM OFEACH PISTON HAVING A CONCAVE CONIC VALVE SEAT CORRELATIVE WITH THE CONICTOP OF THE VALVE, THE VALVE SEAT HAVING ANNULAR SERRATIONS THEREIN, ANDTHE